van dolah



Jan. 31 1956 o. B. VAN DOLAH POULTRY PROCESSING APPARATUS flriginal Filed April 22, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN! 'EN TOR. D9103 E, v om Q25 How,

ATTORNEY Jan. 31, 1.956

POULTRY PROCESSING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (3w *2 in A 8 A [r 39 33 L a Q C u ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,732,583 POULTRY PROCESSING APPARATUS Delos B. Van Dolah, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Swift & Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois 12 Claims. c1. 17-112 Y The present invention relates to an apparatus for facilitating the defeathering of fowls.

In the picking of poultry the common practice is to loosen the feathers before picking by immersing the fowl in hot water in a scalding tank. It has proved'to be a difiicult problem to determine the correct scalding conditions. A lengthy scald at relatively high temperature is the most desirable from the standpoint of the easy removal of the feathers, but this produces complications in that the mechanical pickers commonly used will then bark or remove outer layers of skin of the bird, spoiling the appearance and value of the product. As a result the present practices are a compromise and certain of the feathers may prove to be particularly diflicult to remove because they do not loosen as readily as the remainder. This is the case with the lower feathers on the legs of the fowls, those in what is commonly known as the garter area.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for the selective scalding of various portions of the fowl so as to loosen all of the feathers sufiiciently for them to be easily removed by mechanical pickers, while at the same time not scalding any portion of the bird to an extent that there will be barking of the bird by the mechanical picking. To achieve this end I have devised an apparatus whereby the various portions of the birds are subjected to heated fluids with different portions being subjected to fluids of different temperatures and/or for different lengths of time whereby the amount of scalding of each portion is more nearly an optimum and is not merely a compromise of the various limitations applicable to the bird as a whole. This is performed in-a continuous process whereby a production line operation may be maintained.

Additional objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in-conjunction with the drawings in'which: I I

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of anembodiment of the present invention;

I Fig. Z-is a plan view of the apparatus ofFig. 1 in the absence of the poultry conveyor; and

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the garter steamer of Fig. l.

In the embodiment illustrated herein a conveyor, generally 10, is utilized to carry the poultry through-the steaming process; A plurality'bf hangers'll areIrnoved along the conveyor by means of"a suitable power source in a manner well known in the art. A plurality of holders 12 adapted to be clamped about the legs of the birds are supported from the individual hangers 11 by means of a chain 15. The conveyor moves the individual birds 14 along a predetermined path as generally indicated by line 16 in Fig. 2.

'The path "of I movement of the birds first intersects a,

sc'a'ldin'g tank, generally 17. The exact details of the structure of tank may be varied to suit the individual operator and may be generally that disclosed in Patent No. 2,389,404, the disclosure of which is incorporated the swing of the 2,732,583 Patented Jan. 31, 1956 herein by reference. In such a tank a flow is maintained upwardly in the spaces 18 adjacent the sides of the tank, inwardly over a pair of shelves 19, and returning to the bottom of the tank through the central portion thereof. The flow is maintained by means of a power driven propeller 20.

The exit end of the tank 17 may be sloped outwardly in the direction of the line of movement of the birds, as indicated at 22, and be cut off shortly above the water level, as indicated at 23. Such structure tends to reduce bird as it falls free of the tank while, at the same time, holding the slopout of the end of the tank to a minimum. In addition one or more stops, or the like, may be used beyond the end of the tank to further reduce the swing of the bird.

Between scalding tank 17 and the garter steamer, generally 24, are a pair of guides 25 and 26 to either side of the path of movement 16 of the bird 14. The bottom of each of these guides is well above the area through which the bodies of the birds 14 move.

.At least one of the guides begins at a point along the path of movement well back of the garter steamer 24, as illustrated in Fig. 2 by guide 25. This guide serves to begin to align the legs of the birds to a given orientation as they pass through the garter steamer 24. To insure that such an alignment is obtained, guide 25 is positioned to encroach slightly upon the path of movement 16, as indicated at 28. At the same time guide 26 has approached from the other side so that as the birds 14 enter the garter steamer 24 the holders 12, and an imaginary plane between the legs of the birds, have assumed a position substantially parallel to the path of movement 16. This alignment insures a uniform positioning of the legs with respect to the steaming jets.

Garter steamer 24 includes an enclosure about the portion of the path of movement 16 traversed by the legs of the birds, which enclosure is formed by a pair of sheet metal sides 29 suitably supported as by means of hangers 30. Across the end of each of sides 29 is a rubber flap 31. A rubber bumper 33 along the bottom edge of the sides 29 prevents the edges damaging the legs of the birds.

The rubber parts are preferably made of a steam rubber gasket material to satisfactorily resist the temperatures involved. Along either side of the enclosure are a plurality of steam nozzles or jets 34, which jets may be small holes drilled in a steam line 35 supplied from a suitable steam header 36 through a connecting pipe 37.

In steam line 40 between header 36 and a suitable source of steamsupply is a valve 41. An electrical or pneumatic valve operator 42 automatically adjusts the settingof valve 41 in response to the temperature within the garter steamer 24 as indicated by a temperature responsive device 43 connected to operator 42 as indicated at 44. In other embodiments an automatic controller may be dispensed with and the valve operated manually.

After leaving the garter steamer 24 the conveyor may move the birds to a picking station at which point the feathers are removed from the bird by the rotary fingers offa mechanical'picker.'

lt is believed that the operation of the embodiment of the present invention is clear from the preceding de but not so long,

of the sides from F. The exact amount of that- After leaving the liquid scald the birds proceed through the garter steamer where the legs are subjected to additional scalding of from five to ten seconds. The tem perature within the garter steamer 24 may be maintained at about 170 F. This loosens the garter feathers to an extent to make them much easier to pick than they have been previously under the practice of scalding the bird as a whole.

The foregoing. description is for the purpose of' com pliance with 35 U. S. C. 112 and should not be construed as imposing any unnecessary limitations upon the up pended claims.

The present application is a division: of my prior application, Serial No. 157,421, now Patent No. 2,663,049, issued December 22, 1953.

I claim:

1. A device for scalding birds preparatory to picking the feathers therefrom, including a fluid container adapted to hold a heavier than air heated fluid inwhich the bodies of the said birds may be immersed, leg scalding means adjacent said container constructed and arranged to apply heated fluid to the legs only of the birds to additionally scald only the legs of the birds, and conveying and supporting means extending over said container and said scalding means and supporting the birds by the legs with the bodies of the birds in said container and said legs sequentially in said scalding means.

2, A device for scalding birds preparatory to picking the feathers therefrom, including a fluid container adapted to hold a heavier than air heated fluid in which the bodies of the said birds may be immersed, an enclosure having openings at each end thereof and an opening across the bottom connecting the two end openings, means within said enclosure to produce a relatively high temperature within said enclosure, one of said ends being adjacent said container, and conveying and supporting means extending over said container and said enclosure and supporting the birds by the legs with the bodies of the birds in said container and sequentially through said enclosure through the opening in said one end of the enclosure with the legs of the birds within the enclosure and the bodies extending through the bottom opening of the enclosure whereby the legs only of the birds are subjected to an additional heating.

3. A device for scalding birds preparatory to picking the feathers therefrom, including a fluid container adapted to hold a heavier than air heated fluid in which the bodies of the said birds may be immersed, an enclosure having openings at each end thereof and an opening across the bottom connecting the two end openings, a plurality of steam nozzles positioned adjacent a side of the enclosure and directed generally towards the opposite side of the enclosure, one of said ends being adjacent said container, and conveying and supporting means extending over said container and said enclosure and supporting the birds by the legs with the bodies of the birds in said container and sequentially through said enclosure through the opening in said one end of the enclosure with the legs of the birds within the enclosure and the bodies extending through the bottom opening of the enclosure whereby the legs only of the birds are subjected to an additional scald.

4. A device for scalding birds preparatory to picking the feathers therefrom, including a fiuid container adapted to hold a heavier than air heated fluid in which the bodies of the said birds may be immersed, an enclosure having openings at each end thereof and an opening across the bottom connecting the two end openings, a plurality of steam nozzles positioned within the enclosure adjacent each side of the bottom of the closure and directed generally towards the opposite sides of the enclosure, means connected to said steam nozzles and to a. source of steam to control the amount of steam supplied to said steam nozzles, one of said ends being adjacent said container, and conveying and supporting means extending over said container and said enclosure and sup- ..porting the birds by the legs with the bodies of the birds in said container and sequentially through said enclosure through the opening in said one end of the enclosure with from an overhead conveyor, said scalder including an en closure having openings at each end thereof and an opening across the bottom connecting the two end openings, and means within said enclosure to produce a relatively high temperature within said enclosure, said enclosure being positioned with said two end openings aligned with said conveyor and at a height at which the bottom of the enclosure is spaced below said leg gripping portions of the shackle a distance substantially equal to the lengths of the legs of the birds whereby the legs only of. the birds are exposed to the relatively high temperature within said enclosure.

6. A garter scalder for use in scalding birds supported by the legs by a shackle having leg gripping portions from an overhead conveyor, said scalder including an enclosure having openings at each end thereof and an opening across the bottom connecting the two end open ings, and means within said enclosure to produce a relatively high temperature within said enclosure, said means being positioned adjacent the bottom of the enclosure, said enclosure being positioned with said two end openings aligned with said conveyor and at a height at which the bottom of the enclosure is spaced below said leg gripping portions of the shackle a distance substantially equal to the lengths of the legs of the birds whereby the legs only of the birds are exposed to the relatively high temperature within said enclosure.

7. A garter scalder for use in scalding birds supported by the legs by a shackle having leg gripping portions from an overhead conveyor, said scalder including an enclosure having openings at each end thereof and an opening across the bottom connecting the two end openings, heating means within said enclosure to produce a relatively high temperature within said enclosure, and control means operatively associated with said heating means to regulate the temperature within said enclosure, said enclosure being positioned with said two end openings aligned with said conveyor and. at a height at which the bottom of the enclosure is spaced below said leg gripping portions of the shackle a distance substantially equal to the lengths of the legs of the birds whereby the legs only of the birds are exposed to the relatively high temperature within said enclosure.

8. A garter scalder for use in scalding birds supported by the legs by a shackle having leg gripping portions from an overhead conveyor, said scalder including an enclosure having openings at each end thereof and an opening .across the bottom connecting the two end openings, guide means extending outwardly from said enclosure at each vside of the opening in one end thereof to align the shackles and the legs of the birds generally parallel to the sides of the enclosure, and means within said enclosure to produce a relatively high temperature within said enclosure,

said enclosure being positioned with said. two end openings aligned with said conveyor and at a height at which the bottom of the enclosure is spaced below said leg gripping portions of the shackle a distance substantially equal to the lengths of the legs of the birds whereby the legs only of the birds are exposed to the relatively high temperature within said enclosure.

9. A garter scalder for use in scalding birds supported by the legs by a shackle having leg gripping portions from an overhead conveyor, said scalder including an enclosure having openings at each end thereof and an opening across the bottom connecting the two end openings, a pair of guides extending outwardly from said enclosure at each side of the opening in one end thereof to align the shackles and the legs of the birds generally parallel to the sides of the enclosure, the portions of said guides at said end being spaced from each other substantially the same width as the width of the opening in said end with the remainder of the guides being flared away from each other, and means within said enclosure to produce a relatively high temperature within said enclosure, said enclosure being positioned with said two end openings aligned with said conveyor and at a height at which the bottom of the enclosure is spaced below said leg gripping portions of the shackle a distance substantially equal to the lengths of the legs of the birds whereby the legs only of the birds are exposed to the relatively high temperature within said enclosure.

10. A garter scalder for use in scalding birds supported by the legs by a shackle having leg gripping portions from an overhead conveyor, said scalder including an enclosure having openings at each end thereof and an opening across the bottom connecting the two end openings, and a plurality of steam nozzles positioned adjacent a side of the enclosure and directed generally towards the opposite side of the enclosure, said enclosure being positioned with said two end openings aligned with said conveyor and at a height at which the bottom of the enclosure is spaced below said leg gripping portions of the shackle a distance substantially equal to the lengths of the legs of the birds whereby the legs only of the birds are exposed to the steam within said enclosure.

11. A garter scalder for use in scalding birds supported by the legs by a shackle having leg gripping portions from an overhead conveyor, said scalder including an enclosure having openings at each end thereof and an opening across the bottom connecting the two end openings, and a plurality of steam nozzles positioned adjacent each side of the enclosure and directed generally towards the opposite sides of the enclosure, said steam nozzles being adjacent the bottom of the enclosure, said enclosure being positioned with said two end openings aligned with said conveyor and at a height at which the bottom of the enclosure is spaced below said leg gripping portions of the shackle a distance substantially equal to the lengths of the legs of the birds whereby the legs only of the birds are exposed to the steam within said enclosure.

12. A garter scalder for use in scalding birds supported by the legs by a shackle having leg gripping portions from an overhead conveyor, said scalder including an enclosure having openings at each end thereof and an opening across the bottom connecting the two end openings, a plurality of steam nozzles positioned adjacent a side of the enclosure and directed generally towards the opposite side of the enclosure, and control means connected to said steam nozzles to regulate the flow of steam from said nozzles in response to the am bient temperature within said enclosure, said enclosure being positioned with said two end openings aligned with said conveyor and at a height at which the bottom of the enclosure is spaced below said leg gripping portions of the shackle a distance substantially equal to the lengths of the legs of the birds whereby the legs only of the birds are exposed to the steam within said enclosure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,146,589 Morrison July 13, 1915 2,152,082 Onorato et a1 Mar. 28, 1939 2,202,022 Ozouf May 28, 1940 2,607,073 Johnson Aug. 19, 1952 

